Made to orderFree UK deliveryArrives in 4 to 9 working days

Narrowboat Gifts

Your basket (0)

Mooring knots for narrowboats

Four knots for tying up to a bollard, a ring, a mooring stake or your own T-stud. Each has its steps, how to undo it, and a card to print.

Four knots for tying up

Pick the knot for what you are tying to. Each one lists its steps, how to undo it, and prints as a card.

Round turn and two half hitches

Ties a mooring line to a ring, a mooring stake, a dolly or a bollard, and still comes undone with the boat pulling on it.

A pale mooring rope wrapped twice round a black iron bollard on a wet stone lockside, knotted on its own standing part, a narrowboat moored beyond

Use it on: Bollard, Mooring stake, Dolly, Ring.

  1. Pass the end of the line round the bollard, stake or dolly, or through the ring, so it comes back towards you.
  2. Take it round once more. The line now wraps the post twice: that is the round turn, and it holds the boat while you tie the rest.
  3. Take the end over the standing part (the length that runs to the boat), round it, and back through between itself and the round turn. That is the first half hitch. Pull it snug.
  4. Go round the standing part again, the same way, and tuck the end through between itself and the first hitch. That is the second half hitch. Pull everything tight.

To undo it: Pull the end back out of the two half hitches. The round turn still holds the boat, and you can ease the line round the post to let her go gently.

Steps in our words, from Colin Jarman on Living on a Narrowboat and Animated Knots by Grog.

Lighterman's hitch

Makes a line fast on a bollard or a tall dolly without tying a knot at all, so there is nothing to jam.

A thick pale rope turned round the neck of a black iron bollard with a loop of it dropped over the bollard head, water behind

Use it on: Bollard, Dolly.

  1. Take a full round turn on the bollard.
  2. Pass a loop of the free end under the standing part, bring it up, and drop it over the head of the bollard.
  3. Drop a second loop of the free end over the bollard.
  4. Pass a third loop under the standing part, up, and over the head of the bollard.

To undo it: Lift each loop off in turn until you are holding the boat on the round turn again.

Mind: Jarman suggests it when the rope is thin and the dolly tall; otherwise use a round turn and two half hitches.

Steps in our words, from Colin Jarman on Living on a Narrowboat and Animated Knots by Grog.

Cleat hitch on a T-stud (OXO)

Makes a line fast on the boat's own T-stud with no tying, and lets go under load.

A mooring rope wound round the neck of a green T-stud with brass ends on a narrowboat deck and crossed over the top in an X

Use it on: T-stud.

  1. Take a full round turn on the upright neck of the T-stud. You can now ease the line round the neck to control the boat.
  2. Cross the line over the top of the T and pass it under one horn.
  3. Cross over the top again and pass it under the other horn. The two crossings make an X.
  4. Finish with a fresh round turn on the neck. Round, cross, round: O, X, O.

To undo it: Unwind it back to the first round turn, then ease the line off.

Mind: With a slippery rope, Jarman adds a second X before the last round turn.

Steps in our words, from Colin Jarman on Living on a Narrowboat.

Bowline

Puts a fixed loop in the end of a rope, to drop over a bollard or to join two lines with two linked loops.

A loop knot tied in the end of a pale braided rope, lying on weathered deck boards

Use it on: Bollard, Ring, Another line.

  1. Make a small loop in the rope, leaving enough end for the size of the big loop you want.
  2. Pass the end up through the small loop.
  3. Take it round behind the standing part.
  4. Bring it back down through the small loop, then pull tight on the standing part.

To undo it: Take the load off first. With no load on it, it unties easily; with the boat pulling on it, it will not.

Mind: Not the best mooring knot: it cannot be tied or untied with a load on the standing part, and you need slack in the line to lift the loop off a bollard.

Steps in our words, from Animated Knots by Grog and Colin Jarman on Living on a Narrowboat.

The Boater's Handbook (p15) names five useful knots: locking hitch, round turn and two half hitches, quick release clove hitch, canalman's hitch, bowline. We teach the two of those we found written steps for, plus two more from the same sources. Narrowboating for Beginners treats the canalman's hitch as another name for the lighterman's hitch. Practise on the bank before you need them.

A rope coiled on the cabin roof of a green narrowboat moored beside a stone-edged towpath
Coil the line where you can reach it.

Which knot for which post

You tie up to four kinds of thing on the canal: bollards beside a lock, mooring stakes in the bank, rings in a lock wall, and the dolly or T-stud on your own deck. That list is Colin Jarman's, the author of two books on boating knots, and it is why these four knots are here.

For a ring, a stake or a bollard, use a round turn and two half hitches. On a bollard or a tall dolly, a lighterman's hitch does the job with no knot to jam. On the T-stud, use the round, cross, round pattern. Keep the bowline for when you need a fixed loop.

Why every knot starts with turns

Jarman warns that if you try to stop a moving narrowboat by holding the end of a line, you will soon be swimming. A turn or two round the post lets the friction take the pull while you finish the knot. It also lets you ease her off again under control. That is why three of the four knots begin with a round turn, and why each one comes undone with the boat still pulling.

How to practise

The pictures are AI-made, to show the setting of each knot, so follow the written steps, not the picture. Tie each one on the bank first, round a fence post or a chair leg, until you can do it without looking. Then print the cards and keep them in the cabin. Our lock steps tool covers the rest of a lock, and the canal boat quiz checks what you know.

Sources

Canal & River Trust, The Boater's Handbook (revision Spring 2022), pages 15 and 68. Colin Jarman, knots for narrowboating on Living on a Narrowboat. Animated Knots by Grog, boating knots. All read on 30 October 2026. The steps are in our words.

Written by Craig Fearn for Narrowboat Gift. Updated .How the guides are written.

Questions before you go

What is the best knot for mooring a narrowboat?

For a ring, a stake or a bollard, a round turn and two half hitches. It holds well and comes undone with the boat still pulling. On your own T-stud, use a round turn, cross over the horns, and finish with another round turn.

Should I moor with a bowline?

Not as a rule. A bowline cannot be untied with a load on it, and you need slack in the line to lift the loop off a bollard. Use it when you need a fixed loop.

Which knots does the Boater's Handbook list?

Page 15 names five: a locking hitch, a round turn and two half hitches, a quick release clove hitch, a canalman's hitch and a bowline. It shows drawings and points boaters to the RYA's knot books for more.